I
was settled in southern Saskatchewan as a young minister in the summer of 1962.
It was the summer of discontent in that province, the summer of the great doctor's
strike when Premier Tommy Douglas tried to introduce a form of medicare. That
fall, The United Church introduced its New Curriculum, the first to take seriously
recent scripture scholarship and to risk a more liberal approach to scripture.
It created a storm of controversy.
We had barely caught our breath from that controversy when Bishop John Robinson hit us with his little book, Honest to God. Trained as I was in fairly orthodox theology, primarily Karl Barth, this book landed like a bomb. Next was Pierre Berton's needling assessment of the state of the church in his book, The Comfortable Pew, and then Harvey Cox's The Secular City. I felt our survival as a church hinged on making changes, and making them rapidly.
Two decades would pass before another word would come into play for me: the word 'transformation'. That word carried a more insightful understanding of the work of the Christian community and especially the work of pastors and lay leaders.
In preparing this paper, I decided that I must to get a better sense of what is happening in the church today, so I arranged to talk with dialogue groups in Edmonton, Winnipeg, Saint John, Waterloo and Mississauga.
Changes We Have Seen
The first question put to the dialogue groups had to do with changes the participants have seen over the years of their involvement with the church. Worship surfaced as a key area: the variety of elements (drama, story, visuals, etc.); the extensive use of the lectionary in preaching, teaching, and worship planning; the greater and more thoughtful observance of the church year; the more frequent celebration of holy communion; the enhanced celebration of baptism; and the broader repertoire of congregational song. Many were offering additional worship opportunities such as Taize services, healing prayer services, and monthly 'contemporary' services.
Children are now more actively present in worship. Some congregations have developed children's councils as a means of including them in their decision-making processes.
The growing numbers of women in ministry are emerging as strong leaders, shapers, and movers of the church.
A minister in the Maritimes noted that thirty years ago he chaired just about every major committee in his congregation. Now these are presided over by lay people. Lay people expect to have a major part in the operation of the congregation. The commitment of laity to leadership in a suburban congregation, however, tends to be shorter, often a year or two at the most. This affects the continuity of the work of committees and hinders a congregation's ability to do long range planning.
Several participants raised concerns about the growing dependency of lay leaders on clergy. An influx of new people with limited church experience means that people in many small and mid-size congregations lean heavily on the clergy, looking for guidance and resources. Most clergy are ill-prepared to provide basic leadership development on this scale.
Where Are We Now?
Where do we find ourselves now as a church? Many new people come seeking a measure of happiness and spiritual satisfaction, but with little commitment to the institution.
Many come seeking community, searching for satisfying relationships, a place to call "home". The absence of authentic community in many people's lives is leaving a void.
Conflict - occasionally intense conflict - is surfacing at board and committee meetings, and at study groups.
People are less concerned with denominational affiliation and show little interest in the work of the national church. Forty years ago loyalty and a sense of pride about the denominational family were strong. That's not the perception today. As one person commented, mailings from the national office seem agenda-laden, oblivious to realities of current congregational life, and distressingly uncoordinated. For many, Presbytery and Conference gatherings have become more a punishment than a pleasure. Struggles around church structure hold interest for a diminishing few.
What are we here for?
Kirk Hadaway touches on this denominational malaise in his recent study, Behold I Do A New Thing: Transforming Communities of Faith. Mainline denominations, he points out, are maintaining a system that is designed to lose members. With Reginald Bibby, he insists that we are not losing members to conservative churches. By and large, the children of mainline congregations aren't very interested in what any churches have to offer. Our problem, as churches of mainline denominations, is that we simply fail to be as useful, relevant, or interesting as we once were. We don't have a clear fix on our purpose either as a denomination or as congregations today. We avoid wrestling with the tough question, "What are we there for?" (pg. 26-27)
What we are meant to produce is changed lives. What we are about is the transformation of people. This is the vision that should permeate all our work in Christ's name. Enhancing worship, for example, is only relevant in terms of the transformational effect it has on the people who attend. Worship should be a powerful and life-giving vehicle, attracting and transforming newcomers, whether it is done in small groups of corporately.
A participant from Mississauga pointed out that we are much more diverse as a church than we have ever allowed ourselves to acknowledge. The church is a living and dynamic institution. It must reflect its new diversity. It must be subject to, and be an advocate of, change.
Church Leadership In The Third Millenium
The two-hour sessions with the dialogue groups were, in most instances, so animated and intense that some questions had to be set aside. One question had to do with ministry leadership in the years to come. Because I feel the issue is so important, I turn again to the comments of Kirk Hadaway in his book, Behold I Do A New Thing. (p.66)
Kirk Hadaway states his view concerning leadership in a congregation unambiguously: the minister is not the leader, the minister exercises leadership. Leadership is a function and not a position to be claimed. (p. 66)
The leadership role of the pastor, Hadaway proposes, is to keep the organization concentrated on its mission. The pastor helps the congregation to ascertain and reset its agenda so that it is truly on track with its purpose and mission. Critical to that mission is changing or transforming people's lives. The work of transformation can happen in many ways-through events and programmes, or through informal interaction-but happen it must if the church is to be the church.
What Lies Ahead?
Some congregations have shriveled to almost nothing in terms vision, human and financial resources, but many others are remarkably healthy and experiencing regeneration. While some are saying, "we are dying," others are saying, "good heavens, we are just being reborn!"
A young women assured me that the new generation of clergy is more comfortable with endings and beginnings, energized by what is unfolding, and not feeling undone when good work falters or fails. We need to remember that God is a god of endings as well as beginnings, that death is God's gift as well as birth.
Many clergy feel abandoned. As one minister put it, "The structures that we once depended on are no longer there. We are out there on our own, exposed, as we haven't been before. We must learn to cope with the confusion, rapid change, and uncertainty around us; we must learn to depend more on ourselves or on those close to us as never before. What excites me is that there is also greater freedom. I am delighted with the changing situation. It has been strangely liberating. I have to work much harder, and I am more accountable, but I find that what I am doing is much more fulfilling… though it scares me at times."
Another minister told of his own congregation, a once vital faith community whose demise had been widely predicted. It was not death that was at the congregation's doorstep, but new life just waiting to break out. They decided on a second service that would be more engaging for young adults. The efforts have borne fruit, and released amazing vitality in other areas of the congregation's life.
Most focus group members felt positive about the future of the United Church of Canada. They see it is an inclusive and welcoming church, a church where you are free to ask questions that trouble you. They feel proud that, as a denomination, we have ventured into stormy waters around complex issues such as the ordination of gay and lesbian people, justice and reconciliation with native people, economic fairness and responsibility in an affluent society.
Looking Into the Future
I have no crystal ball to show the future, but several convictions emerge that I believe will be necessary for healthy and growing congregations.
First, attention to nurturing genuine spirituality is vital. The word "spirituality" laces many conversations in the church, but it is seldom defined or described. The search for a satisfying spirituality will be with us for a long time to come. Congregations should intentionally collaborate-even across denominational lines-in developing forms of daily prayer, healing services, Taize worship, informal small group scripture and prayer gatherings, and more.
Second, congregations need to intentionally reconnect with their communities. As in new church development, you go out, innocently and optimistically and winsomely, to meet people at their doors, or in the market or mall. Neighbour speaks to neighbour, and friend brings friend. And the "going out" needs to be matched with "the welcoming in". It isn't enough to be friendly. The work of Christian hospitality-of welcoming, guiding, including and supporting people through the stages of transformation-needs thoughtful and sustained attention. This is where congregations may have to take risks, re-shaping their life and work in ways that I can't even conceive.
Third, people need to be equipped to understand and live out their faith in a highly secular society. The ways in which education and nurture occur can be manifold: through Bible study groups, study groups on the building blocks of faith, small group gatherings, seminars connecting the way of Christ with personal and vocational and political issues, through film and media faith reflection groups, intentionally inserting study elements into the meetings of administrative committees or councils, through retreats, and so on. The possibilities are vast. And all should be a natural part of the ongoing work of transformation for those who make up the Christian community.
Fourth, I believe Sunday morning will remain the key gathering time for most people. That time needs to be the occasion of a liturgy that is theologically strong and life-giving.
Fifth, pastoral care in congregations needs to be overhauled. Developing effective lay pastoral ministers should be a high priority, a natural part of that whole work of transformation in which people learn to care thoughtfully for others as well as themselves from a firm base of faith.
These elements, I believe, issue in a changed but stronger Christian church. It may also mean a larger church, although I don't think the numbers will be huge. I do believe, however, there will be a vitality that we have not seen for a long time. And I, for one, after forty years of walking with the church on a downward slope, would love to experience the lilt and joy of walking with it on a new and rising slope.
A presentation by John Ambrose to the National Conference on the Christian Church in the Third Millennium in Toronto May 2002, sponsored by The United Church of Canada. You can contact John by e-mail at jambro@gncom.com.
Newsletter Vol. 8 No. 4 August 2002